Denny Minnich tapped the top of a folding table in a basement room of a church in his Carlisle neighborhood.

Retirees, parents and single professionals fell silent. They faced an hour’s worth of discussion. Like most people these days, they had little time for an evening meeting.

View full sizeDoug Weirich, center, seated, and other Carlisle residents, listen to RE Invest Solutions President Tom Lobasso, right, explain the process for demolishing the former Carlisle Tire and Wheel factory during a Tuesday meeting that drew 75 residents to the Stuart Community Center. At left is borough council member Dawn Flower. ELIZABETH GIBSON, The Patriot-News

Resident Curtis Hetrick said he’d stop by the station after the meeting to get on the list. Minnich said police and a borough codes enforcer were walking the streets checking for violations. Finally, Minnich accepted an anonymous $100 donation to use for a neighborhood project.

Residents attend council meetings and bide their time during long, official reports. They get a few minutes to bring up an issue. Then, they wait weeks, months or longer for their concerns to work through official channels.

Carlisle residents have flipped the process.

They have formed neighborhood groups. They list concerns — poorly kept properties, drug dealing, litter in parks — then fix the problems.

Those groups are helping make the town safer.

Serious crime dropped 25 percent last year, according to statistics released April 4 by Mayor William “Doc” Kronenberg. Carlisle crime is at its lowest since at least 2005.

Grell said neighbors are having an impact.

“We’re appreciative of information coming from the neighborhood groups, hearing, for example, ‘Yeah, (a criminal) is back in town at this location,’ and so forth,” Grell said.

Soon, police will be hearing from even more neighbors.

Eddy Kaplaniak said two new groups are forming. One will represent the Chapel Hill area south of Interstate 81 and the other the homes in the lettered streets north of C Street. That will make nine associations, roughly one for every 2,000 residents.

The associations aren’t just beautifying parks. They are demanding action from elected leaders, insisting on information from developers and pushing police for more walking patrols.

There aren’t enough officers to extend foot patrols outside a few downtown blocks. For now, residents don’t plan their own patrols. There are only two neighborhood associations in the midstate with walking patrols. Both are in Harrisburg.

“We think it’s great that they’re taking interest in Carlisle and the police in their neighborhood, but we don’t want them to take an active role in any (criminal) situation,” Margeson said.

A Neighborhood Watch coordinator in Sanford, Fla., fatally shot an unarmed 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, on Feb. 26, sparking protests across the nation. George Zimmerman, who claimed he acted in self-defense, is charged with second-degree murder.

Neighbors said they don’t want to make arrests.

But they won’t stand aside if criminals try to edge into their community.

For instance, Hetrick and others are tired of seeing money and drugs change hands at Biddle Mission Park off East North Street. They started the East Side Neighbors Association. Over the last few years, they’ve planted trees, put in a path, added a swingset and benches. They take turns running events at the park.

“That project has been great. It’s so nice to look out there now and see families with kids playing,” neighbor Connie Wilson said.

On the other side of town, Brenda Landis hated the isolation in her neighborhood.

Part of the problem is a giant, empty factory, the former Carlisle Tire & Wheel plant, that splits the town’s northwest end. It used to be a hub of activity. Now, it threatens as a target for vandals.

Through the West Side Neighbors Association, Landis helped get the company that is redeveloping the site to meet with neighbors. Landis and her kids walked door-to-door with flyers telling people when company reps would be in town. About 75 residents turned out. They told the company what they wanted — and didn’t want — at the site.

Don’t put in something that will draw a criminal element, one resident said. Another neighbor told RE Invest Solutions President Tom Lobasso that the security firm he pays to guard the vacant plant was slacking. She said she routinely saw guards check in, leave the area, then return at the end of a shift to check out.

“I’m not trying to be a tattletale,” neighbor Valerie Ewideh said, “but there really is not 24-hour security.”

Lobasso met with her after the session to get details.

Minnich, who lives on North Bedford Street, said police and officials who come to East Side meetings want to hear where problems are.

“That’s the most important thing that we do. The borough and police can only (address) what they’re aware of,” said the 63-year-old Minnich, a retired high school history teacher.

“I’ve grown up in this neighborhood. I’ve seen it change and I don’t mind the change but I want it to be the right kind of change. I want the old neighborhood feel to remain as I remember it. That’s why I’m involved,” he said.

Landis lives on A Street. She works at Dickinson College.

“I deliberately chose a diverse neighborhood. I love it for that reason. I love that people are always outside and talk to me,” she said.

“It’s not like I joined (the association) to turn things around. It’s not a bad place,” she said.

And while the neighborhood association is improving communication among neighbors and giving them a stronger voice in town, Landis said the less bureaucracy, the better.

“What I’m hopeful for is more informal events. Pot lucks. Picnics. Not something that puts more demands on people,” she said.